Early-stage African startups have found it difficult to raise money this year. In July, GoLemon stopped taking orders after two years and tens of thousands of deliveries, with an average basket of about ₦43,700 ($32). The company said it made money on every delivery, but when it sought capital to scale, it could not raise enough to continue.
Its explanation for shutting reflects a position that more African startups have found themselves in as venture funding has tightened. FoodCourt paused orders after failing to raise new capital, while Gigbanc shut down after also struggling to secure funding.
The headline funding figures suggest the African tech market has remained relatively resilient. TechCabal Insights’ State of Tech in Africa report puts funding in H1 2026 at $1.44 billion, up 1.4% year on year. But the number of deals fell from 252 to 174 over the same period, while funding that reached early-stage startups dropped to $9 million from $25 million.
Africa: The Big Deal, which tracks the market using a different methodology, found that only 190 startups raised at least $100,000 in the first half of 2026, the lowest half-year count since 2021. The number of startups raising between $100,000 and $1 million fell from 179 in H2 2025 to 100 in H1 2026, a 44% drop in six months.
If you read this together, the figures suggest that capital is still flowing into African startups but is reaching fewer companies and becoming increasingly concentrated among larger, later-stage businesses. The pipeline of smaller rounds has contracted particularly sharply, narrowing one of the key funding routes for startups trying to move from early experimentation to a more established business.
For this week’s Ask an Investor, we asked investors three questions: what has changed in what startups must demonstrate to raise their first cheque? Who should fund the stage that is increasingly being left behind? And what would give more of these companies a better chance at surviving? The responses offer a view into how investors are assessing risk, traction and capital efficiency in a market where simply having a promising idea is no longer enough to attract funding.
It is important to note that the views expressed are those of the individual investors and analysts who responded and do not necessarily represent the positions of their respective firms.
The interviews have been edited for length and clarity.